Aapkarmi (The Unfated)

Taruna Khatri / Short Fiction / India / Hindi, Marwari / 25:48 / 2025

Aapkarmi (The Unfated) is a brief confrontation with the Teej fasting ritual, seen through the eyes of a Marwari teenager, Barkha. Though unwilling to observe the fast, Barkha plays along to humour her excited younger sister, Vishu. A day before the fast, a misplaced document unearths buried tensions with their mother, revealing that Barkha’s resistance runs deeper than tradition. Frustrated and reactive, she lashes out at Vishu. In a swirl of ritual and a twisted folk tale, the cause of her defiance slowly comes to light.

Cast & Crew: 

  • Story, screenplay, Direction,  Edit: Taruna Khatri 
  • Producer: National Institute of Design, 
  • Co-producer: Sanjay Gulati (Crawling Angel Films)
  • DoP: Gorkey Patwal, Piyush Gwari
  • Cast: Tanishka Meesala, Uma Shekhawat, Swati Vyas
  • Assistant Director: Mira Randha
  • Sound Recordist: Abhay P
  • Production Head: Sandeep Singh Khichi
  • Costume Designer: Dhara Sejpal
  • HMU: Sheela Kashyap

Director’s Bio

Taruna Khatri, born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan is trained as an architect and holds a Master of Design in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (India). Her films focus on mental health, poetic explorations, and female representation. Her debut short film ‘Farther Than Distance’ premiered at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023 and has been shown at other festivals like IFFSA Toronto, Sehsuechte International Student Film Festival and Madurai International Documentary and Short Film Festival. She is currently working with Crawling Angel films as an Associate Producer.